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Edison stared.
Lü Bu stared back.
The battlefield was absolutely flooded with light. Every corner illuminated. Every shadow eliminated. The Noble Phantasm blazing at full output — World Faith Domination, the Anti-Populace Noble Phantasm that stripped mystery from existence itself, that had unmade dragon-bloodlines and dissolved imperial authority and reduced Heroic Spirits to their baseline mortal components.
Lü Bu's twin ornaments caught the light and gleamed. His cape moved in the wind. He looked, if anything, slightly more impressive than before.
"How is this not working," Edison said, less a question now than a statement of personal offense.
[Chat]: AHAHAHA
[Chat]: the one Servant it doesn't work on
[Chat]: Edison prepared a whole speech and everything
[Lore_Drop]: okay so. Lü Bu's power doesn't come from mystery. it comes from him. his martial skill, his physical strength, his presence — these are not magical concepts. they are the cultivated result of one man's obsessive, lifetime dedication to being the best fighter alive. there's no mystery to remove. he's just genuinely this strong.
[Also_Lore]: Edison's Noble Phantasm works on magical enhancement. divine protection, bloodline blessings, Servant-class bonuses. Lü Bu's stats are his own. they always were.
[Chat]: he was born broken. the Noble Phantasm cannot help you with someone who was born broken.
[Edison_Chat]: Edison discovering that not all problems can be solved by making them visible to the public
Lü Bu tilted his head slightly, the way a man does when something mildly interesting has happened.
"Are you finished?"
He turned back to the battle.
The three Servants regrouped. Nero, hands still bleeding, sword up. Elizabeth, spear back in position, dragon features more pronounced from exertion — the horns sharper, the tail thrashing with focus. Darius, axes at his sides, the dead tissue across his body knitting itself back together one cell at a time.
Three against one. Lü Bu in the center, unhurried.
He'd been suppressing all three simultaneously and he knew it. But there was something here — the coordination between Elizabeth and Nero, the relentless pressure from Darius's raw strength, the way they were forcing him to divide his attention — that was making the math slightly more interesting than it had been ten minutes ago.
He was still winning. He was winning less easily.
The battle resumed.
Elizabeth came in low, spear aimed at his ankles. Nero came in high, sword wreathed in Primordial Flame. Darius came in from the side, one axe swinging at his ribs.
Lü Bu vaulted over Elizabeth's sweep, caught Nero's blade on the halberd shaft in a shower of sparks, and drove a back kick into the flat of Darius's axe before it could connect — redirecting it rather than absorbing it, using Darius's own momentum to spin him off the attack line.
The exchange took under a second.
[Chat]: he's reading all three of them simultaneously
[Chat]: three-person coordination vs one man who has been doing this since before history was written
[Chat]: I'm a Lü Bu fan now. I wasn't before tonight. I am now.
[Counter]: he threw Elizabeth like a javelin earlier
[Elizabeth_Fan]: ...I'm also a Lü Bu fan.
On the rooftop, Maverick watched Edison's expression cycle through stages of a man revising his confidence estimates.
"The deal," Maverick said. "You said Command Seal after the Noble Phantasm takes effect."
"I'm aware of the terms," Edison said. He was quiet for a moment. "I may need to revisit the approach."
"You told us it would reduce him to a softie."
"The principle is sound. The application has encountered an edge case." Edison's lion eyes were working through something. "His power is intrinsic. The Noble Phantasm operates on conferred mystery — blessings, bloodlines, magical augmentation. He has none of those. What he has is himself."
"So your trump card doesn't work."
"My trump card doesn't work on him specifically." Edison's tone was precise. "It would devastate virtually any other Servant in this configuration."
[Chat]: the one man it doesn't work on is the strongest one in the building
[Chat]: incredible. truly incredible.
[Dai_Chat]: Dai is watching this conversation with her arms crossed
[Teacher_Pu_Chat]: Teacher Pu is watching with one hand on his remaining Command Seal
Below: Darius came in again, both axes, overhead slam. Lü Bu planted his feet. The clash shook the building they were standing on.
This time, Lü Bu was pushed back forty feet instead of sixty.
The numbers were changing — slowly, incrementally, as the three Servants found rhythm together, as the damage accumulated on both sides. Elizabeth's Dragon God Dive had found a crease twice in the last minute. Nero's speed was building back toward its peak.
Lü Bu was still winning. But the margin was getting smaller.
[Chat]: Lü Bu's good days are ending
[Chat]: slowly. but ending.
[Chat]: it's four Servants including Darius now. four against one. and they're finding the coordination.
Maverick looked at the Command Seal on his hand. Looked at the battle. Made a decision.
"Alright," he said to Edison. "New terms. You figure out how to end this. I'll make it worth your while."
Edison's lion face arranged itself into an expression of professional interest.
"Now you're speaking my language."
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